Around Belfast: Wednesday

Today we went on a tour of Belfast City Hall. The original city hall was bombed by Germany in the blitz. They were aiming for the shipyard and the airplane factory, but they dropped a bomb a little too soon and hit city hall. This painting of one of the Lord Mayors is the only thing that survived.
At the onset of the war, someone had the foresight to remove the stained-glass windows, so the original windows are now in the new building.

Jason saw a document on display that his ancestors signed (The Ulster Covenant).

We went to McHugh's for some pub grub. (Hooray! We finally made it to a pub & we were not disappointed!) It's the oldest building in Belfast. The pub was established in 1711. The food & service were really good. I had lamb stew (very Irish), and Corona (not so Irish, but very good).
This fish is pretty neat. Each tile has a newspaper clipping or picture on it. The fish's eyes have views of the city in them. It's so much more interesting in person.

Around Belfast: Tuesday

Yesterday we visited the parliament building (Stormont). We walked up the hill, which doesn't look far, but it really is. Nobody has been working there for 8 or 9 months because the politicians can't agree on anything.

Around Belfast: Monday

On Monday we visited the Ulster Museum which had some really interesting exhibits. My favourite exhibit was Ireland at War. It showed all of the past conflicts in Ireland with relics from each. There were ancient weapons, armor, and human remains. Also artifacts from more recent disputes. Ireland has a tumultuous past. This display made us think of CSI.














There was a dinosaur skeleton there with a sign that read, "The dinosaur formerly known Anatosaurus: In recent years dinosaur experts have decided that Anatosaurus is actually the same as another dinosaur called Edmontonsaurus. The dinosaur Edmontonsaurus was named first, this name has priority. This is why our dinosaur has changed its name."
Ha Ha, we discovered it first!














Above is a picture of a motif-piece (with engraved artist's sketches) Early medieval (about AD 800). It was found in the course of archaeological excavation in 2004 at Clonfeacle, County Tyrone. Co. Tyrone is the county Jason's Granddad was born in.

They also had a fortepiano on display in an area where photographs were not allowed. It was beautiful. There was also an Egyptian mummy. And admission was free!

Twins

Cute, hey?

Here the uniform for young women is sloppy jeans that make their asses look bigger than they actually are, high pony-tails, heels, and hoop earrings.

Red & white is hot here. All of the mannequins are wearing it.

Coastal Drive

On Sunday, Jason and I took the rented car up north into the country and along the coast. Jason had to adjust to driving on the "wrong" side of the road. Let's just say that it's a good thing that the side view mirrors are designed to collapse without damage. They just pop back out.

On our trip, our opinion of roundabouts (traffic circles) did a 180. At first we thought that they were fantastic, because if we missed an exit, we just went around again. Convenient! Then we realized that there is a roundabout in virtually every small town and you cannot drive straight through the town, you have to go through a bothersome roundabout. There is a small sign before the roundabout that tells you which exit to take, but they are often difficult to decipher: lots of information that you need to read fast. We actually took a wrong exit on our way home, and ended up missing the coastal drive. We didn't realize we had made a wrong exit until many miles later (distance is measured in miles in North Ireland, and kilometers in the Republic of Ireland. There is also a different currency in each, and don't try to pay with the wrong money because people are quite touchy about it. "We don't take Sterling, that's English money.")

Our first stop was the Dark Hedges, which are some magical trees that grow over a country road. Even though it's not an official tourist attraction, we found it quite easily without detailed directions or signs. We were the only people there. This destination was the main reason we decided to drive rather than go on a tour bus because busses don't stop there.
Next, we went to the Bushmills Distillery. It's the oldest licensed distillery in the world (1608). We were fortunate enough to see all of the DeLoreans stopping in the parking lot on their tour of the coast. We saw about fifty of them! They are made of stainless steel and have gull-wing doors. They are quite rare. It was the time machine in "Back to the Future." I thought it was a fictional car until Sunday. Jason posted a video on YouTube. There's another video below it of the doors opening.
On the tour of Bushmills we learned the difference between different types of spirits. For Scotch, the barley mash is dried over a peat fire, hence the smoky, mossy flavour. For whiskey, the barley mash is dried over warm air, so it has a smoother flavour. Bourbon is filtered once, and matures in brand new oak barrels. Scotch is filtered twice, and whiskey is filtered three times. Whiskey matures for 5 years in oak barrels that have previously stored bourbon, sherry, and port.

We then got to sample some Bushmills. I had my first Hot Toddy, and I fell in love! Mmmm, it tastes like warm happiness.
If we had visited the distillery on a weekday, we would have been able to see people working and the entire production line.

We then drove a short way to the Giant's Causeway, which is a magical place on the coast. Cooling lava formed millions of hexagonal columns. WOW! I don't know how to describe this place in words, so I'll show you pictures. That's Jason in the middle of the frame.
We drove to Dunluce Castle next. It was a lot of fun to explore the ruins. The view of the ocean from the castle windows was breathtaking.
One stormy night, in 1639, the north wall of the kitchen court fell into the sea, taking several servants with it to their death. The duchess of the castle refused to live on the rock ever again and a new house on the mainland was built for her.

Dublin

On Saturday, we all piled into a rented car and drove to Dublin. We had planned to stop at three destinations: the Guinness Storehouse, Dublin Castle, and Chester Beatty Library, which houses the world's oldest copy of the New Testament. Sounds exciting, doesn't it?

We arrived in Dublin a couple of hours later than scheduled. We went to the Guinness Storehouse first, which was quite a lot of fun. Their displays were very large and interactive. Troy's daughters had a lot of fun playing in the barley... just as I did when I was growing up, playing in granaries. The best part of the eight storey exhibit was an old movie of a man making oak barrels by hand. He stuck slats of wood together, never measuring, which were held together by two metal rings. The wood was then steamed so it would be pliable. He then bent the wood and put the final ring on. The lid was also handmade and this is the first time he would measure anything. After he was finished the barrel, he looked down at it with a blank expression. The narrator of the film said something like, "The pride on the barrel-maker's face is well-deserved, and you can see the amount of satisfaction he gets from his craft." I love dry, sarcastic humour! The barrel factory would produce 10,000 handmade barrels per week! Handmade!

Did you know that hops only grow in two regions in the world in the temperate climate by the equator?

We got some interesting pictures from the Guinness storehouse and we'll put them on Flickr sometime.

After we had our "complimentary" pints of Guinness and meandered through the very busy gift shop, it was 4:30. We did not have time to go anywhere else. Stores and attractions here close between 5:00 and 6:00. Not much is open in the evenings -- I guess everyone goes out for a pint after a "long" day of work.

We spent some time downtown, which was very busy. Dublin had a lot more tourists. The streets were more tourist-friendly than in Belfast.














There were grotesque sculptures of rabbits and other animals on the street.












Yes, that's a rabbit.

(Not a great picture... it was taken from the backseat of the car.)



We ate supper at a 50's diner called Eddie Rocket's. Whoever invented the ice cream float was a genius! The diner was fun... not really Irish, though. Here's something embarrassing: Jason and I haven't been to a pub yet. We hope to remedy that soon!

Itsy Bitsy Spider

Spiders here are slightly larger than in Alberta... now I know why they have giant Kleenex!

I'm trying to find a happy medium between my "fight and flight" response. That lamp is right above my bed.

After all of my "eep"-ing, Jason "grew some balls" and corralled the spider. I didn't think I was scared of spiders, but the sound it made on the paper lantern freaked me out. It's a heavy one. Jason set it free on the front lawn by tossing it into the night. I swear it unfolded its wings and flew back to hell.

Cave Hill

Yesterday we went to Belfast Castle and hiked up Cave Hill. Belfast Castle was a disappointment for our first castle (not ancient enough), but the garden was pristine. The castle will always have good luck as long as it has a white cat. I love this stone sculpture of a cat sunning itself in the tulips. I have a feeling my Auntie Sharon will like it a lot, too.

This is the view from inside one of the caves on Cave Hill. Jason climbed up into it. People hid here when Germany bombed Belfast in WWII. The Castle has pictures of ladies and gents in their fancy dress sitting here. Can you imagine hiking up a hill in a skirt and boots?

Below is McArt's Fort. About three quarters of the way up, I decided not to attack the fort because I was tired. Let them have their hill. We pushed ahead and enjoyed the spectacular view. I was awestruck by the beauty of the green everything, and the fact that I was in N. Ireland. I love hiking with my husband. It's one of my favourite things. I missed Blake and his ruby red boots a wee bit. (He took us hiking on Berg Lake trail.) Jason has been uploading photos to Flickr. The internet is noticeably slower here, so he's getting an exercise in patience. Check out the photos there if you want to see more.

Mucho Minis: Awesome Austins

The Austin Mini is a popular car in Belfast! We saw so many on our walk to the market yesterday. (It was a long walk because we took a wrong turn and ended up making three left turns, forming a large square.) This one has to be the coolest, though. Most of the cars here are really nice, really fast, and really expensive. Also, there really isn't any room on the roads for parking, so people park on the sidewalk anywhere, and in any direction, they can fit.
Troy's rental car had it's hubcaps tie-wrapped on. A lot of cars around here are missing hubcaps, probably from driving up curbs to park. I guess there aren't parking tickets here. Must be nice.

Pedestrians do not have the right of way, and the sidewalks are narrow. It's not exactly a pedestrian-friendly city. I am hyper-aware as I walk. I can't meander along in a daydream like I do in Edmonton. However, I still enjoy exploring the area on foot. We found a post office today, so we have the means of mailing postcards. Only 50p per stamp... Everything is so expensive here! Except for booze, that's slightly cheaper. I bought a bottle of wine yesterday for 3.99 pounds. That's about $8. It was good, too. And you can drink in most public places. I saw this demonstrated today when I saw a man vomiting on the side of an ancient church while his mate continued to imbibe.
; p

Products for Men Only

There seems to be a market here in Ireland for products that are made especially for men who need to be reassured of their masculinity. These products give them membership to an elite, all man, club. Is Feminism so strong that Patriarchy has to fight back? Should we replace the word "feminism" with "equalism"? This marketing is all done with a sense of humour, and I love it!

The back of the Yorkie chocolate bar says, "Please do NOT feed the birds!" (Haha.)

I love how the woman in the red circle looks annoyed with her arm on her hip, the other arm holding her little purse. I imagine she's mad at her boyfriend for not sharing his chocolate bar with her, and he's saying, "Look, I would share with you if I could, but the label clearly states that it's not for girls. My hands are tied."

No, Jason did not share with me. He said it tasted like the cheap milk chocolate that Easter bunnies are made of. I didn't miss out on much.


Each tissue is 30x27cm. They're HUGE!

The "poem" on the back of the "for men" Kleenex box:
Strong, Soft, Sorted.
We know tissues,
You know when something works.
Ticks all the boxes, takes a big sneeze,
Soaks all those spills, and is still kind on you.
Stronger than before, soft as always.
One thing you can always rely on.

Sounds like a good buddy.

However, there are countless products on the market that aim to make women feel more feminine. I shouldn't be surprised that there is an similar trend for men... But Kleenexes and chocolate bars!? Aren't these unisex products? At the end of the day, it's all about equality between men and women, but also diversity. We really are different creatures, so why not do some targeted marketing?

Jet Lag

We left Edmonton at 2:00 pm and arrived in Belfast at about 2:00 pm. There's a 7 hour difference, so we were traveling for 24-7 hours = 17 hours. Everything went smoothly. Some of the flight attendants were grumpy, but that's not much to complain about. All of our in-flight drinks across the ocean were free! Jason was really excited about his little rum bottle.

Here are some (un)interesting observations:

• Security is tightest in Edmonton. They did not think it was funny at all that Jason had toothpaste on his shirt. (He also might not find it amusing that I have posted this detail.)
• The Edmonton airport has a grand piano as well as a Hello Kitty store. I like it there.
• If you go now, you can eat shrimp off of a paper plate in Montana's in the Calgary airport.
• The people working in the London airport all seem to have a sense of humor (oops, I mean "humour"), which is incredibly welcome after flying across the world.
• Ireland looks absolutely, breathtakingly gorgeous from the plane.
• The temperature in Edmonton last week was higher than in Honolulu! It's going to frost tonight in Ireland. Today's high was 12C.
  

Jet lag is a strange thing to experience. See Jason:

Spelling

Check it out! The blogger.com Spell Checker doesn't have the word "blogger" in its dictionary!

Preparation

Yesterday I finished my masters degree. Tomorrow I fly to Ireland.

Wow.

We're in for a LONG day of traveling. Apparently it takes some time to fly halfway around the world. I have two Stuart McLean books to read on the plane, which should make time fly. (My first pun on blogger!)

I plan on posting a travel journal and pictures of our trip to Ireland. Get ready, here it comes!